Rethinking volitional control over task choice in multitask environments: Use of a stimulus set selection strategy in voluntary task switching

Abstract

Under conditions of volitional control in multitask environments, subjects may engage in a variety of strategies to guide task selection. The current research examines whether subjects may sometimes use a top-down control strategy of selecting a task-irrelevant stimulus dimension, such as location, to guide task selection. We term this approach a stimulus set selection strategy. Using a voluntary task switching procedure, subjects voluntarily switched between categorizing letter and number stimuli that appeared in two, four, or eight possible target locations. Effects of stimulus availability, manipulated by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony between the two target stimuli, and location repetition were analysed to assess the use of a stimulus set selection strategy. Considered across position condition, Experiment 1 showed effects of both stimulus availability and location repetition on task choice suggesting that only in the 2-position condition, where selection based on location always results in a target at the selected location, subjects may have been using a stimulus set selection strategy on some trials. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings in a visually more cluttered environment. These results indicate that, contrary to current models of task selection in voluntary task switching, the top-down control of task selection may occur in the absence of the formation of an intention to perform a particular task.

Keywords:

• Cognitive control
• Task selection
• Volitional behaviour
• Voluntary task switching

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant number R03 MH082216-01A2 to the first author].

Notes

¹We thank André Vandierendonck for suggesting this consideration of individual differences in the application of the stimulus set selection strategy.